The Different

Perspectives on
BGTDL the Community
Guide Question: How is community
defined from various perspectives?
The Social Science Perspective
The Community-Based Perspective
The Ecological Perspective
The Sectoral Perspective
The Sectoral Perspective
The Civil Society Perspective
The Elephant and the Blind
Men
1. Whose description of the elephant was
correct?
2. What does this story tell you?
3. What parallels does the story have with
real life?
4. What factors affect our different views or
perspectives of reality?
5. What significance can this story have on
the study of the community?
1. The Social Science Perspective
 From the point of view of social science, a
community is a congregation of people unified
by at least one common characteristic. The
people can be unified by geography, shared
interests, values, experiences or traditions.
 Socialization starts at the early stage of life
where one develops knowledge, skills, and
orientation. Also it happens during adulthood
especially when the person is placed in a new
environment, and there is a need to adapt to a
new pattern of behavior.
Cont..
In 1887, a German sociologist, Ferdinand
Tonnies noted two types of human
associations:
 Gemeinschaft, called “community” . It is a
community with a tighter and more cohesive
social entity brought about by “unity of will”
 Gesellschaft is a group where individuals
participate as members driven solely by self-
interest. It has been argued that the real
community manifests a combination of
these two patters of behavior.
2. The Community-Based Perspective

Community is seen as a setting for intervention,

target for change, resource, and agent from the
community-based perspective. Below are the
descriptions per classification.
 Setting for intervention – interventions may be
implemented at various places within
community institutions including
neighborhoods, schools, churches, work areas,
and community organizations. Project
interventions may concern education, health,
and other services.
 Target for change - the community
denotes the goal of creating a healthy
environment facilitated by policy and
community-wide institutions and services.
 As a resource – the community is a good
material for promotion as it has a
considerable degree of “community
ownership and participation.” Thus the
situation provides a high possibility of
project intervention success.
 As an agent – the focus is on “respecting
and reinforcing the natural adaptive,
supportive, and developmental
capacities of communities.” This means
that communities, through local
institutions, provide resources for realizing
regular needs.
3. The Ecological Perspective
 From this perspective, a community is a
congregation of species that occur together in
tie and space and have high probability for
interaction.
 Behavior is perceived not only as a product of
knowledge, values, and attitudes of individuals
but also as a result of social influences involving
the family, social networks, organizations, and
public policy.
4. The Sectoral Perspective
 From this perspective, a communities are seen
as a system which is comprised of individuals
and sectors with diverse characteristics and
interrelationships.
 The sectors are composed of groups of
individuals embodying distinct roles and
interests within the community system. Every
sector functions within particular margins to
sustain the requirements of its members and
beneficiaries.
5. The Civil Society Perspective
 Civil society (CS) is generally defined as a wide
array of nongovernmental organizations and
volunteer groups that are fighting for solutions to
social issues that continue to worsen the
condition of the disadvantaged sectors of
society, especially the poor.
 CS views the community as composed of
people, structures, and systems endowed with
resources but is confronted with social issues as
well. The CS likewise recognizes that those who
are affected by social problems must organize
and band together to pursue and advocate for
social change.
 According to Henderson and Vercseg (2010),
community development (CD) is a means of
enhancing CS as it prioritizes and aligns
community actions with economic, political,
social, and ecological policy development.
 CS plays a transformative and integral role as it
helps empower the community to enter into
advocacy, dialogue, and networking. It
promotes a cognizant effort from the community
to build leadership, enhance organizations, and
advance community development
interventions.